anyone we know?
 

Wow. Article doesn't say if he was a fisherman or not, though the other details would point towards that. Wonder who it was.

Wow:eek:. Glad to hear he made it. That's a long scary trip.
I think we should all carry a hand bilge pump and a radio for stuff like this.

if used properly- your bilge pump for your bait tank will do the trick... i keep a small container of QuikPlastic on the yak for situations such as this. Hope I never have to make use of it and is why I'm not completely sold on the internal bait tank.

Lots of questions?
 

I wonder what was the cause of the leak. and so on.

Wow... :eek:

Glad the guy made it.

Another could-have-been-deadly reminder on importance of safety.

Make sure you have a life vest. Wear it all the time if all possible.

Have a VHF, preferably in a bag with attached small floater. Your cell in a dry bag won't do you much good in situation like this.

Have a manual pump or at least improvised device to scoop water out manually... Kayaks are tiny plastic boats - you can easily punch a whole in it without realizing by dragging it over a sharp rock. Not even to mention all the constant stress on internal plastic joints while the boat vibrating strapped on the top of your car/track doing 70+mph on the freeway... Plus the swell banging on it...

Have a GPS, preferably waterproof hand held, easily detachable. Have spare batteries for it. In blown out to sea situation, you ought to be able to tell the CG where you are at.

I know some folks carry light flares as well; great idea. I haven't been doing it, but now I'll throw a few in my dry bag. Better safe than sorry.

Always carry extra water with you!!! Now that I have a kill bag (btw, great way to keep your catch fresh), I take an extra 3-4 frozen water bottles to keep the inside of the kill bag cold. That water doubles as the emergency water supply. ;)

I'm sure that's not all, but in my case - minimum safety standards I paddle by...

We're in the open ocean.

SAFETY FIRST!

hand bilge pumps are better than battery operated ones. We know how often bait tanks and electronics crap out. But yes you can use a bait tank pump in an emergency in most situations.

My internal bait tank has worried me little since I got it. There have been zero problems so far in over a year and over 150 uses including dragging over cobbled beaches, dropping the kayak off the rack, dragging over the edge of a panga fully loaded, dropping a knife in it, having a treble hooked lure snag it and mothership racks not meant for kayaks. Still the plastic fix kit is a great idea.

What an ordeal. I think many of us wouldn't have survived a night in the ocean, particularly only in shorts.

I'm anxious to hear the rest of the details. They are so sketchy now, almost all of it is supposition.

I won't leave the beach without a hand pump - those things move a tremendous volume of water - but even those can fail. I'd taken on several gallons on a really ratty day one time. I'd pumped out about half when the pump handle and metal piston pulled right out of the cylinder. Not good. Having a buddy nearby to bail you out? Good!

I didn't always wear my PFD. Last August I was fishing by myself near Blacks, I started feeling really tired, then blacked out briefly and flipped and fell into the water. Fortunately the water woke me up and I was able to get back on my kayak and gather all my stuff. I felt weak paddling back to the launch but by the next day I felt 100%. I figured I had some kind of virus the previous day but I started wearing my PFD constantly after that. I had another dizzy spell in September with heartburn. Had it checked out and ended up getting quad bypass heart surgery. I was in the best shape of my life, riding a bicycle 200 miles per week, surfing, kayaking, etc. I'm not preaching but I wear that PFD all the time now.

Rode 85 miles this past Sunday, from Solana Beach through Del Dios, Escondido, Valley Center, Bonsall, Fallbrook, Oceanside, etc. Thats pretty good for less than 12 months after quad bypass, huh? If you see us riding on Sunday's give us a friendly honk, we have red jerseys with Qualcomm printed all over them.

I always wear a PFD for exactly the unlikely scenario that fishinado described. Had he not come around in the water he could have had a buddy 30 yards away and he would have been under and gone before the buddy could have paddled to him. I also do everything that lamb described (right on Adi :luxhello: ) Having spent 11 years in search and rescue I've seen many bad endings that could have ended up as just good stories if only for one little, usually obvious thing (like wearing a PFD) that the person didn't do. 99.9% of the time things are great but when it goes to hell it goes quick. It's the ocean and we need to respect it and always be safe. See you all out there (bring fish)!!!:cheers1:

Joe

This is a great reminder for me. I usually leave my PFD sitting in the front area of my yak. I could have been hard pressed to get it on, never mind the scenario like Dave described. well it will be on 100% of the time from now on. I have a little survival pack that is in a dry pouch that I throw inside my yak and I have a hand bilge pump for my internal tank. I have my VHF attached to my PDF and now my phone in the dry pouch will go on me too!

I am happy that this event did not end differently, and kudos to whoever this was for the effort it must have taken to swim in! He probably saved his own skin!

Stuff a bunch of Fun Noodles inside your kayak for floatation. I believe I have around 12 of them in there. Most of them are in the back area inside the kayak.

Some of the folks on the Australian Kayak Fishing Forum did an experiment with pool noodles to see if they could keep a kayak afloat.

http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic....st=0&sk=t&sd=a

They got some interesting results. Adding pool noodles might keep your yak near the surface, but not enough to paddle. It is still a good idea, when used in conjunction with a VHF MB radio or other signaling devices. Floating next to a partially submerged kayak is better than nothing. You will have something to hold on to that can provide some flotation and it will make you more visible. The key is to wear your PFD and to have some means to attract attention.

I used to have several inflatable fenders inside of both my Drifter and Prowler. I might try doing the same on my X-Factor. You lose some internal storage space, but it will keep your fully flooded yak from sinking completely.

This morning on KUSI News, they said the guys name was Clyde Walker. I'm sure glad he's OK.

Edit: update name to Clyde Bolter

That is a very luck man.

I would like to know the circumstances of the sinking, anything could have happened out there....

The make and model of Kayak has me curious.

Should be on entertainment tonight , channel 5. Don't miss it :eek:

A boater actually recovered the kayak off the coronado islands today. Apparently it didn't sink completely.

:hmmmm:ET? Channel 5? I am confused. Why would it be on ET? and we do not have a channel 5! Am I really missing something here?

I respect the guy for his reaction "ashamed I wasn't prepared". He didn't blame anyone else and took full responsibility. I've done things more stupid I'm sure but I try to learn from both my mistakes and other peoples mistakes. He forgot to bring fishing gear? Moron!

One thing I thought was funny but maybe I misread...

He spoke of some of the survival training he recieved in the Navy and then went on to say that he only learned to swim last year? I understand that not everyone enlists in the Navy to be a SEAL but shouldn't the Navy have included swimming lessons in their survival training? (Or is he still "in" the Navy and only enlisted last year where he learned to swim?)